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The Exercise of Vital Powers
Garibaldi arrives on Mars to meet his new employer, William Edgars. Lyta helps Franklin to make progress with the frozen telepaths. Cast Starring *Bruce Boxleitner as Captain John Sheridan *Claudia Christian as Commander Susan Ivanova *Jerry Doyle as Michael Garibaldi *Mira Furlan as Ambassador Delenn *Richard Biggs as Dr. Stephen Franklin *Stephen Furst as Vir Cotto *Bill Mumy as Lennier *Andreas Katsulas as Ambassador G'Kar *Peter Jurasik as Ambassador Londo Mollari *Jeff Conaway as Security Chief Zack Allan *Jason Carter as Marcus Cole *Patricia Tallman as Lyta Alexander Special Guest Star *Efrem Zimbalist Jr. as William Edgars Guest Starring *Denise Gentile as Lise Hampton-Edgars *Mark Schneider as Wade Co-Starring *Shelley Robertson as Ms. Constance Featuring *Kenneth Cortland as Patient #1 *Sandey Grinn as Patient #2 Cast Notes *Regular characters who appear in this episode are John Sheridan, Susan Ivanova, Michael Garibaldi, Stephen Franklin, Zack Allan and Lyta Alexander. * This episode marks William Edgars' first appearance in person. His voice was previously heard in Conflicts of Interest and Moments of Transition. Summary Introduction The Voice of the Resistance airs again: Susan Ivanova declares the liberation continues with more defections, who are carrying stories of atrocities committed by Morgan Clark. Beta Durani I colony has been freed and the mid-range military base. During Michael Garibaldi's trip to Mars, he makes a personal log. He worries about John Sheridan's attacks tearing apart the Earth Alliance in the process. He is afraid Sheridan might take power himself due to his own grandeur. He believes Sheridan would not have gone against his own people before he went to Z'ha'dum. This is why he came to Mars, despite that he vowed never to come back, as three times before it almost killed him. In a transport tube, Wade is bringing Garibaldi to William Edgars, and insists he wear a blindfold. Edgars has a private dock to the tube, so he won't be in public. He understands Garibaldi's reluctance to it, and, after some convincing, Garibaldi puts it on. Act I On Babylon 5, Stephen Franklin works on one of the telepaths modified by the Shadows, trying to get past the implant's defenses. Zack Allan arrives and Franklin expresses his frustration at the lack of progress and Sheridan's pressure. As Franklin leaves Allan to view the patient, Lyta Alexander arrives on a request from Allan. He wants her to scan a victim of a mugging, on the victim's request. She happily negotiates a commission and Allan goes. Alexander then observes the patient. Suddenly, he wakes up and approaches her. Franklin turns around and sees it. She breaks off the contact and he falls. Franklin is encouraged, but she leaves in a hurry. On Mars, Garibaldi arrives and waits for Edgars when Lise Hampton-Edgars happens to enter. She tells him shouldn't have come, that it's busy and risky. Edgars then arrives and warmly has Lise check on something elsewhere. He starts the conversation with Garibaldi politely by apologizing for the small space of the Mars habitats and invites him to see their place on Earth with 500 acres of watershed land. He then asks why Garibaldi rushed to see him. Garibaldi answers that he's done a fair bit of work and wanted to know more about what the operation was due to the dealing he has to do, but then also says he wants help stopping Sheridan. He would like to turn Sheridan over, but, since he will undoubtedly be killed in that case, he wants Edgars' connections to many in power to prevent that. Edgars admits that many knew Clark was behind Luis Santiago's assassination well before B5 said anything, however, says they should work from inside the system instead of a military attack. They both agree that Clark must be stopped. Garibaldi thinks Sheridan is going to tear Earth apart with his offensive and possibly take power for himself. Edgars asks what's in it for him, and Garibaldi replies he would get a lot of good press and incur several favors from everyone, perhaps get power for himself. Edgars notes it will be a very interesting weekend. Act II Garibaldi is shown to a bedroom by Wade, with no information about when he will see Edgars again. On B5, Franklin catches up to Alexander to find out what she did earlier. The patient woke up, responding and wasn't a danger, which is exactly what they need. She says she heard sound the Shadow Vessels make when they go by, then she instinctively made it go away and that's when he woke up. He implores her to come by later and try more, appealing to her helping her people. Garibaldi's room is forcefully broken into and taken to a dark room with a single light. There, a single Psi Corps member sits, and Edgars explains it is an interrogation, though the telepath does not know anything about them, only reporting on whether he's lying. Edgars wanted Garibaldi's heart rate up for the questions. He first asks what he thinks about telepaths. Garibaldi says he doesn't trust them, despite the safeguards. He's convinced a conflict between telepaths and non-telepaths will end badly. He notes there's no trail of evidence with them, and even admits they are a menace to society. Edgars turns to Sheridan (without using his name), asking if Garibaldi was telling the truth about locating and capturing him, and having a guaranteed means to do so. Next, he asks why it wasn't enough that his reason for hiring Garibaldi was about pharmaceutical competition. Garibaldi has deduced there would be a better means of addressing that than hiring him, and that he must have something to hide. He then asks about Garibaldi's disappearance and if he remembers anything. Garibaldi takes a second and says no. Lastly, Edgars asks if he i still in love with Lise, and Garibaldi denies it. After he leaves, the telepath says he lied. Edgars meets Lise, who asks how it went. Edgars says it was fine, and that she did not come up in the interrogation. He reassures her and leaves. Instead of providing payment, Wade kills the telepath. Act III In Medlab, Franklin asks Alexander to do what she did before, but slowly. He wants to stimulate brain waves artificially and create feedback loop, hoping to communicate in a way that works around the implants. She begins and Franklin sees a 10% increase in brain activity, 15% in heart rate. She slows down and the heart rate goes down. Franklin notes a decrease in acetacolin when she pushes, and deduces the implants are stimulating production of brain accelerants, obviously necessary for use as a CPU. Without control, however, the brain looks for something to do, tearing everything apart nearby. The patient wakes, and, seeing aliens instead of the real world, he grabs Franklin's neck. Franklin directly reassures the man that the machines (vessels) are gone and won't hurt him. He lets Franklin go and declares he can't live like this. He picks up an instrument and tries to stab himself in neck, but Alexander stops him. Garibaldi talks with Edgars again over orange juice, a rare luxury on Mars. Garibaldi assumes he passed the test and wants the information. Edgars uses the Greek's definition of happiness to wonder what kind of society it would be when normal humans are considered second-class citizens to telepaths. Garibaldi doesn't want to live in that world, and Edgars presumes he knows what's coming. Garibaldi doesn't believe Psi Corps has the power to take over (outnumbered 10 to 1), but Edgars notes that's the physical battle – there's a war of information and secrets as well. He notes people will act out of fear and stupidity and let the takeover happen, as that's how people gain power, not only through force. He cites the Germans in 1939, Russians in 1917 and 2013, Iraqis in 2025, and French in 2112. These rulers were believed to be people who could settle scores and get what the people wanted. Clark is that person now, and people are afraid of aliens as well as themselves. Edgars notes Clark wants 100% loyalty and, as VP, instituted loyalty tests. However, he had to bring in telepaths as they could not be fooled. Santiago refused this, but he underestimated the opposition. Edgars describes Clark's takeover, eliminating Santiago, as an "unacceptable risk." Edgars doesn't know the full story, only that aliens were involved, promising all the power he wanted. Clark knew the aliens were interested in the Psi Corps, therefore he was also interested in them, considering them his "insurance policy" against the aliens and a means for gaining more power. Clark put his people everywhere using the Nightwatch with telepaths alongside for security. He gave unprecedented authority to them, and they won't let it go after Clark is gone. He then turns to Sheridan. Edgars believes Clark will turn the Psi Corps into a military force answerable only to him, and they won't let go of that power. Edgars also admits that mega-corporations have run things behind the scenes for years. They consider Clark an amateur who thinks he's in control. They let him have his way but didn't see the telepath threat at the time. Now it is too late, and it threatens business interests. He promises to fix it their way, but Sheridan threatens to destroy the timetable. Lise enters to announce breakfast. After she leaves, Garibaldi asks if it is the whole truth. Edgars says there is a bit more, but he is going to have to decide to come all in. Act IV In the White Star fleet, Sheridan gets an update from Ivanova. A couple s were sent to take over B5 but defected instead (5 so far that day). He notes that was a bit too easy, and Sheridan worries. Delenn is heading back to B5 from Minbar, otherwise all quiet. Franklin is in the middle of something, but takes the call from Sheridan. Franklin, visibly frustrated, says he thinks he can neutralize the implants for brief periods of time and wants to amplify Alexander's instructions for more experiments. When Sheridan asks if he can get them up and running, Franklin finally snaps and demands to know what the end goal is because it would help a lot. Sheridan then sets up secure channel and Franklin gets everyone to leave. He starts by saying it may be the hardest thing he has asked of Franklin. Franklin leaves Medlab slowly, stunned. Alexander walks by and asks if he's all right. Franklin notes the change everyone saw in Sheridan after he went to Z'ha'dum, but he didn't see it physiologically. The previous Sheridan would not have told him what he just did. He then composes himself and says he has long-term job for Alexander – they're going to Mars. Garibaldi in his room gets dinner from Lise. He can't let her leave without wondering why Lise is with Edgars, and demands to know what Edgars has that he doesn't. She admits she does not know what is going on, but does not want Edgars to stretch himself too far, putting himself at risk. He demands to know why she did not reach out to Garibaldi earlier when she was free, and she explains she carried the relationship, as Garibaldi married the job. In a medical room, Wade observes three patients when Edgars walks in, wanting to check up. He feels the forehead of one of them, noting he cannot be infected. He states human compassion is important and dying alone is terrible. This patient was off of his drug for 5 days, and is showing faster symptoms. The patient groans, and Edgars says he knows it hurts (part of the process) and it will be over soon. Edgars gets up and walks away, asking Wade to put them down, wanting to end their pain. Act V Edgars reads when Garibaldi comes in. He says he's been thinking about a lot of things, and made the decision – he's in. Edgars, however, needs more to show his sincerity. He wants him to bring Sheridan in next, so that Clark will feel safer and they will have bought time to prepare. Garibaldi will turn him over to Edgars only, since he'll be killed otherwise, but Edgars is confident Clark wants a public hearing, so he'll keep Sheridan alive. Edgars promises they will move before then. Garibaldi is uncomfortable, but then composes himself and informs him that Sheridan's father needs a rare drug, tenasticin, that will be easy to trace. Edgars says they still need someone to set him up, and Garibaldi agrees. As Garibaldi leaves to prepare, Edgars says he's doing the right thing. As he goes, Garibaldi notes he cannot feel anything anymore. He has screwed it up with Lise, but maybe he can make up for it with this mission. That is, if making up for something is even possible. He is convinced it has to be done, and hopes Sheridan can see it someday. Memorable quotes DVD release This episode, along with the other episodes from season four, has been released on DVD with extensive special features. External Links * Category:Babylon 5 episodes Category:Babylon 5 Season 4 episodes